Northeast Asian History Network

[Authorized in 2016 and March 2017, in use from 2017 and 2018]

*Meiseisha, Japanese History B (Authorized in 2012, in use from 2013)

Japanese History A

Some 700,000 Koreans were forcibly taken to the Japanese mainland under pressure of the administration or police of the Governor-General of Korea, where they were forced to engage in dangerous work under harsh conditions. Military conscription was implemented near the end of the war, and many women were recruited as comfort women. Military conscription was implemented near the end of the war, and many women were recruited as comfort women. Similar events took place in Taiwan as well in which the Council of Loyal Imperial Subjects was formed, and a military draft system was introduced.

Many women in the Japanese colonies and occupied areas were sent to war zones as comfort women, including those from Korea, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Netherlands, and Japan. The areas where they were stationed ranged from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies, to locations in Japan including the Okinawa Islands, Hokkaido, and Karafuto (Sakhalin).

^{-『Japanese History A – History from Modern Times』, Tokyo Shoseki, pp. 132~133}

Japanese History A

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Koreans, Chinese etc. in the occupied areas were forcibly taken to Japan and other areas to mines and civil engineering sites where they were made to work.¹⁾

1) A military draft system was implemented in Joseon in 1943 (Showa 18) and in Taiwan in 1944. However, a volunteer service system had already been in place since 1938 (Showa 13) and soldiers were recruited in the colonies as well. In addition, women from countries including Korea, China, and the Philippines (the so-called "military comfort women") were recruited to "comfort facilities" installed in war zones. ^{-『Japanese History A (revised edition)』, Yamakawa Shuppansha, p. 166}

Japanese History A

In order to make up the shortage in labor, the Japanese government forcibly took some 800,000 Koreans to military factories and coal mines in Japan and on Karafuto (Sakhalin). Many Chinese were forcibly taken* to these locations as well.

In order to mobilize colonists to the battlefield, a voluntary enlistment system was implemented from 1938 in Korea and from 1942 in Taiwan. An atmosphere for this system was created whereby it was an “honor” to be dispatched as a volunteer, and that becoming a Japanese soldier was a shortcut for colonial subjects to become “good Japanese citizens”. In addition, a military draft system was also implemented in Korea (1943) and Taiwan (1944) in which many from the colonies were forcibly sent to the battlefield (Footnote 3).

In addition, under the control of the Japanese military a large number of women from Korea, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Philippines and the Netherlands were sent to battlefields as "comfort women" for soldiers' sexual needs.

* Forced Detention and Labor Recruitment began in Korea in 1939, followed by official agency placement in 1942 and the National Draft Ordinance in 1944 in which many Koreans were taken to areas including the Japanese mainland and Karafuto (Sakhalin). In addition, a decision by the Tojo Cabinet in 1942 led to about 40,000 people being taken from China to Japan.

They were forced to engage in harsh labor at coal mines, other mines and dam construction sites and many deaths occurred as a result. There was also a Chinese uprising in Akita Prefecture near the end of the war (the Hanaoka Event).

^{-『New Japanese History A (new edition)』, Jikkyo Shuppan Co., Ltd., pp. 104~105}







A voluntary enlistment system was created to compensate for the shortage of Japanese troops, and put into implementation...the application of the National Draft Ordinance resulted in a large number of people taken to areas such as coal mines⁶⁾...many women in the colonies and occupied regions, mainly Koreans but also those from China, Indonesia, Philippines and the Netherlands, were mobilized as comfort women to comfort stations to meet the sexual needs of the Japanese troops, of which the Japanese army was involved in the installation and supervision.

6) Various methods were used to make up the shortage of labor: group recruitment from 1939, official agency placement from 1942, and the National Draft Ordinance in 1944. From this, some 800,000 Koreans were forcibly taken away to the Japanese mainland, Karafuto (Sakhalin), Asia and the Pacific. During the same period, 4.15 million Koreans were taken by force to mines and factories within Korea, along with another 110,000 as laborers in the military. In addition to this, some 40,000 Chinese were also forcibly taken to Japan. The excessively harsh labor led to a great number of fatalities, and a Chinese uprising also occurred in Akita Prefecture which led to the deaths of about 420 people (the Hanaoka Event). ^{-『High School Japanese History A (new edition)』, Jikkyo Shuppan Co., Ltd., p. 125}

Japanese History B

A military conscription system was implemented in Korea in 1943 and in Taiwan as well in 1945 in order to compensate for the shortage of troops and manpower. In addition, through the National Draft Ordinance, many people were taken to Japan for manpower from Korea and Taiwan as well as the occupied regions in China.¹⁾ These people were forced to work in Japanese military factories and mines under harsh working conditions, and many subject to this hardship perished.

1) About 700,000 Koreans were said to have been brought collectively from 1942 prior to the enforcement of the conscription decree. A substantial number of women from the colonies and occupied regions were also sent to war zones as comfort women. ^{-『Newly Edited Japanese History B』, Tokyo Shoseki, p. 228}

Japanese History B

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Koreans and Chinese from the occupied territories were forcibly taken to mainland Japan and other areas where they were made to work at mines and civil engineering sites.₂₎

2) The military draft system was implemented in Korea in 1943, and in Taiwan in 1944. However, a voluntary enlistment system had been in place since 1938 and soldiers were recruited from the colonies as well. In addition, women from countries including Korea, China, and the Philippines (the so-called "military comfort women") were recruited to "comfort facilities" installed in war zones. ^{-『Detailed Japanese History B (revised edition)』, Yamakawa Shuppansha, p. 365}

Japanese History B

4) During the war in the Asia-Pacific, about 40,000 Chinese were also taken to Japan and subjected to forced labor, of which 7,000 died. In addition, there was a revolt among the Chinese workers in June 1945 who could no longer take the abuse at the Hanaoka Mine in Akita Prefecture (the Hanaoka Event), which was brutally suppressed. ^{-『Japanese History B (new edition)』, Jikkyo Shuppan Co., Ltd., p. 317}

Japanese History B

During the war in the Asia-Pacific, Japan mobilized residents of the colonies as soldiers and workers and plundered supplies. The military draft system was implemented in Korea in March 1943, and conscription inspections began the following year. Some 116,000 people had been drafted as soldiers up until Japan's defeat in the war, while another 126,000 were conscripted into the Japanese army as attached civilians. These were forced into participating in Japan's wars of aggression and more than 50,000 died in battle...While travel to Japan by Koreans had been on the increase since the latter half of the 1920s, they began to be taken to Japan in the form of recruitment after July 1939, and true forced migration to Japan via official agency placement became a reality beginning in March 1942. A revision of the National Draft Ordinance was promulgated in July 1944, and a total of approximately 800,000 Koreans ended up forcibly taken to Japan to compensate for the labor shortage there. In addition, thousands of Korean women since 1944 were sent to factories in Japan as part of the Women's Volunteer Corps. Moreover, many women became comfort women for the sexual needs of Japanese soldiers, and were taken to the front lines in areas such as China, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as to Okinawa.

^{-『Japanese History B (new edition)』, Jikkyo Shuppan Co., Ltd., p. 323}

Japanese History B

In the mining and civil engineering industries where labor shortages were also severe on the domestic front, many Koreans as well as Chinese from the occupied regions were forcibly brought over and put to harsh labor.¹⁾

1) About 800,000 Koreans and 40,000 Chinese were taken to Japan up until its defeat in the war. A revolt took place in June 1945 at the Hanaoka Mina in Akita Prefecture among 900 Chinese who had been forcibly brought over, of which 420 were massacred. ^{-『High School Japanese History B (new edition)』, Shimizu Shoin, p. 228}